Gary Lineker has weighed in on the cryptic Instagram post from ex-Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes about Michael Carrick.
Michael Carrick finally tasted defeat for the first time as Manchester United’s head coach, ending the Reds’ impressive Premier League unbeaten streak at eleven games, following a late strike from Newcastle’s William Osula to sink United.
The performance was a disappointing one, especially considering United were only up against ten men in the second half following Jacob Ramsey’s dismissal just on the stroke of half-time.
United fans may have felt a result like this had been coming, with recent performances not being up to par compared to the ones fans saw at the beginning of Carrick’s second reign as United interim.
However, following the disappointing result on Wednesday night, United legend and former midfield partner to Carrick, Paul Scholes, chose to rub salt into the wound, appearing to criticise his former teammate on Instagram not long after full-time.
“Michael has definitely got something special about him… because United have been c— [in] the last four games,” he shared on his story, before deleting it.
Lineker responds to Scholes comments
Whilst covering United’s midweek clash with Newcastle on The Rest Is Football podcast, co-host Gary Lineker weighed in on the former United man’s criticism of Carrick, saying: “He’s digging him out, isn’t he? He’s not exactly being very supportive of his old teammate, is he?”
Lineker went on to theorise about the situation between the two former teammates, questioning the relationship between them. “You see, there’s a little bit of beef between Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick? It’s an odd one,” he added.
“It’s weird, isn’t it? Maybe there’s a bit of history there. Who knows?”
Despite United’s midweek defeat, the Red Devils still remain in third place in the Premier League, a position fans could only have dreamed of following Carrick’s initial appointment.
Having done a remarkable job so far, given the situation he took over from, this only further raises the question as to why a United ‘legend’ is so eager to criticise his own former teammate so scathingly.
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United’s ex-player pundit problem
It is well documented over the past decade that United has been a club plagued by many issues that have hindered it, but one that tends to go under the radar is the influence of ex-United players in the media.
Although due to their role as pundits, they must remain impartial, it feels like, despite the positive results of the last few weeks, ex-United pundits still feel the need to be overly critical of the club.
With Scholes’ comments only being the latest example of this, it remains a consistent issue, as it just further creates a negative atmosphere around the club that players will read and hear about.
Carrick and his men will be hoping to silence their critics this season as they continue to pursue Champions League qualification, with the Red approaching the business end of the season.
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